Monday, June 25, 2012

I just returned home for a six day trip through Nagoya and Manila, but before I write about it I wanted to post pictures of the Applefords from England.

This is Robert and Katy with their daughters Sophia and Claudia. They're from Sevenoaks near London and were on holiday in the US. They'd visited Boston and the Cape and were on their way to New York to span the Atlantic and return home.

Rand, Robert, Sophia, Claudia, Katy and John

I'd just run into my good friend John Vivenetto as we were commuting to DTW to start trips. John's an A-320 captain and was scheduled to return to BOS for an overnite and I was commuting out for yet another shortcall when we met the Applefords and engaged in conversation. It turns out that this was Sophia's sixth birthday and we were happy that she was able to celebrate it in the US.

I have to apologize here. I promised Robert and Katy that I'd send these photos to Claudia and Sophia, but as luck would have it, my shortcall reserve day turned into a six day trip. My organizational skills are apparently lacking though as I've misplaced their email address. I'd mentioned my blog so can only hope that they see the pictures here. Should you read this though, please leave an email address in the comment section and I'll be more careful this time.

Once again, happy birthday to Sophia, thanks for flying with Delta and journeying to visit us Yanks this summer.

An interesting sidenote: John has an identical twin brother, Tony, who's an NYC 757 captain with us and John's wife Peggy flies for USAirways. Tony and John and I think Peggy too, all flew for PBA.

And thanks very much to the Airbus crew who got us to work on time.

Jacob, who is a Navy Corpsman and has just returned to the airline from active duty, Ashley and Sakura...

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Congratulations to Daniel Sallee from Port Angeles, WA. who correctly identified the bridge as the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in New York Harbor. Completed in 1964, this masterful engineering feat was the worlds longest suspension bridge at the time (4,260') and connects the boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island. ("You lookin at me?")

Daniel is a 757/767 First Officer for Omni Air International flying world-wide charters to (as he puts it) "just about everywhere I ever wanted to go and a few places I'd rather not." Daniel's grandfather flew for Braniff Airways and he's continuing his family's tradition of commercial flight. His grandfather, while flying at Braniff knew one of my all time favorite aviation writers; Len Morgan.

After I wrote this, I received two more answers. One was from Tony who correctly answered the question and fellow blogger and aviation photographer Mark Lawrence. Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond.

Now, here's where I turn green with envy. Daniel, as well as flying for Omni, flies part time for Kenmore Air in Seattle. He's a seaplane pilot too. I've always wanted to do this.

Feedjit

Fellow Aviation Enthusiasts

Welcome to Rand's Aviation Blogsite

Thanks for tuning in as I fly throughout North America, Europe and Asia in Boeing 757's and 767's and now the B-747-400. My goal is to put you in the left seat of a commercial jet and have you experience life aloft as well as the layovers that include sightseeing, exploration, fantastic dining experiences and time spent with my crews in Paris, Frankfurt, London, Beijing, Tokyo, Saipan and other exotic places. Flying jets and exploring the world has been an exciting way to make a living. I'd like to share some of that with you here.

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Do you need an aviation expert with 35 years of commercial aviation experience to turn to? Rand is an International airline captain, former part 121 simulator and line check air man, air show pilot and co-founder of an FAA part 135 airline flying Fairchild Metro III's throughout the northeast United States. He's consulted on a History Channel movie, is on call to ABC News in Manchester, NH and has appeared on several Evening News Magazines concerning vintage aviation. With more than 100 articles published in a variety of aviation magazines, and thousands of airline photographs in his collection, call to use his knowledge for your purposes.

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